CBSs Julie Chen Bubbly with Praise for CSPI Soda Ban

By

Ken Shepherd

May 4, 2006 - 2:00pm

CBSs Julie Chen approvingly congratulated liberal activist Michael
Jacobson for his bold step in getting soft drinks banned from the
countrys public schools. But the Early Show anchor left out how
Jacobsons Center for Science in the Public Interest had been
planning on forcing the policy into law through a court case.

In this morning's HealthWatch, bold, new measures in the fight
against childhood obesity. A major deal has been reached to take
non-diet soda out of public schools during school hours, Chen
opened her interview segment with Jacobson, a leading advocate in
the separation of school and soda, she quipped.

Chen lobbed softballs on CSPIs crusade against soft drinks like
How big of a deal is this, and are you going to push to ban those
sports drinks next?

At the end of her interview, Chen thanked her guest and lauded the
soft drink ban as definitely one bold step.

Never in her interview, however, did the CBS morning show co-host
hit Jacobson with any criticism of his organization, including its
anti-industry positions and its willingness to use the courts to
effect policy change.

In a May 3
press release [1],
Jacobson thanked CSPI lawyers for negotiating effectively with the
soft-drink industry and proving that the judicial system can play
an important role in spurring public health advances.

Jacobson was referring to a Massachusetts
lawsuit which Food & Drink Weekly reported on in its
Dec. 12, 2005 issue [2].
The suit will also cite the ways in which the large illuminated
Coke and Pepsi machines lining school halls and cafeterias are an
attractive nuisance, the article reported.

The Business & Media Institute has documented the
medias role [3]
in uncritically relaying the talking points of activist groups
critical of the soft drink industry like
CSPI [4].

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